Verlander shows vintage stuff despite no-decision

CLEVELAND — Justin Verlander might as well have held his postgame interview in a library. Even in hushed tones, his voice carried through the visiting clubhouse at Progressive Field. So did the clinks of silverware against plates as players ate. It was that quiet after Saturday’s 1-0 loss to the Indians.

“I mean, it felt good to pitch [well] against them, yeah,” Verlander shrugged, a twinge of vindication over seven scoreless innings against a Cleveland lineup that hit four homers off him in June. “But we lost, so … it still [stinks].” 

After their 11-4 loss the previous night, players were angry, maybe embarrassed by miscues. It would be better, Justin Upton surmised then, to at least play well and lose than to beat themselves.

It didn’t make them feel much better Saturday. In some ways, it felt worse. 

“Outside of sloppiness, they just hit the ball last night,” manager Brad Ausmus said. “They ended up scoring 11 runs. They hit the ball. If they hit the ball, that happens. Tonight, I felt like our pitchers did a good job, and we were unable to scrape out of a run.” 

Verlander gave them a chance. On an afternoon when command issues sent him tiptoeing along the precipice of a big inning early, walking four of Cleveland’s first 12 batters, …

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